Apple plans to release the iPad in several northern European countries soon, while error messages in the most recent iOS 4.2 golden master suggest the possibility of free MobileMe accounts for iOS users.

iPad launch

Continuing the global rollout of its highly successful tablet device, Apple will launch the iPad in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, according to the Wall Street Journal. Alongside the launch, several Nordic telecom operators will soon offer 3G data packages for the iPad, the Journal reports. European carriers Tre, TeliaSonera AB and Tele2 AB all announced Friday that they will provide data subscriptions for iPad users, though they declined to give details on when exactly the plans will launch and prices for the subscriptions.

TeliaSonera did confirm, however, that it will not sell the iPad. "As things look right now, we will only offer subscription packages for the iPad," said Bengt Olsson, TeliaSonera's head of communications. "The iPad launch is imminent and we plan to release our subscription offer in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Demark simultaneously," he said.

Early demand for the iPad after its initial U.S. release in April surprised Apple, forcing the company to delay the international launch of the tablet until May.

Earlier in November, Apple released a golden master of iOS 4.2. Within the beta, it was discovered that the MobileMe settings now asked for Apple ID account info, rather than MobileMe account info. Apple has since released two more golden masters of iOS 4.2, including one build labeled iOS 4.2.1.

On Friday, MacRumors uncovered in the latest iOS 4.2 betas a "new private framework" with error messages referencing free MobileMe accounts. The errors include: "The maximum number of free accounts have been activated on this iPhone" and "This iPad is not qualified for free MobileMe service." Though Apple currently offers a 60-day free trial of its $99 a year MobileMe service, it remains unclear how an iOS device would "qualify" for the rumored free service.

Analysts have speculated that MobileMe will play a pivotal role in Apple's continued expansion into cloud-based services, pointing to the company's $1 billion data center in Maiden, N. C. as potential evidence. MobileMe currently offers calendar, email and contact syncing, as well as file sharing and a "Find My iPhone" remote tracking feature.

They should make it all free to help offer a complete user experience. It's also a good way of getting microsoft and google hooks out of people's computing experience, linking Apple more tightly to it's users. That comes with a responsibility though and MM needs to do everything well, with a service that is better than existing cloud and webmail services.

They should make it all free to help offer a complete user experience. It's also a good way of getting microsoft and google hooks out of people's computing experience, linking Apple more tightly to it's users. That comes with a responsibility though and MM needs to do everything well, with a service that is better than existing cloud and webmail services.

Motorola via Blur, HTC via Sense and Microsoft WM7 all offer free services which mimic some of the functionality of MobileMe i.e. "Find my phone" (complete with sound playing, locking and remote wipe), it's like the browser wars all over again it's becoming untenable for Apple to charge a premium for something competitors have started offering for free.

As I host a website on MobileMe and use it for a few other things as well, paying for it doesn't really bother me.

Better than my Bose, better than my Skullcandy's, listening to Mozart through my LeBron James limited edition PowerBeats by Dre is almost as good as my Sennheisers.

There are any number of ways they can handle this. They can upgrade paid members at no cost (online storage and features). They can give people who've paid a credit at the apple store or at the iTunes store. They can have ad-free for paid and ads for free. That's just off the top of my head. Apple can think of more ways than that. I am a paid mobileme member (family acct) and it would not bother me much if they made the accounts free and I received no refund or credit but some sort of token would be nice and I think good PR.

For someone who owns several apple products, MobileMe is fantastic. I sync 2 macs, 2 iPhones, and an iPad and I also host a website on my own domain on a MobileMe family account. I use the rest of the space for cloud back up of critical jobs (I have other back ups as well for redundancy). I tried the google drop box route and it felt like a complete time wasting hack and I still had no find my phone/iPad. And give google all my private info? No thanks! So the MobileMe service is worth every penny to me. In fact, I dropped my web hosting plan and I am actually coming out ahead.

What I'd like to see going forward for MobileMe. Drop prices and add more online storage for paid members. Add goodies. For example, multiple domain names and outgoing email from your domains instead of me.com. Offer a very minimal free account but still no ads--just enough to get people to see that its's worth paying for. I think many people would pay a reduced price if they used the free account for a while. The 60 day trial is nice but psychologically, people don't make a commitment to something that is going away in 2 months.

Apple has a great deal to learn from Google on how to implement email and related applications (e.g., Picasa) well. MobileMe - I've been a member since Day1 - is a mediocre offering from Apple.

For what it offers, and given how cheap storage is, it should be free.

Which raises the question: why are you still a paid member? Not being snarky, just curious.

I don't see what's great about picasa or even gmail that people rave about. Google apps are a total mishmash and most non-nerds are much better off with something more scaled down and integrated. MobileMe can surely fill that gap instead of going after nerds and "free at all cost" types (pun intended).

I'd be amazed if they offered the same features as the current Mobile Me for free. Look for a limited free version and a premium paid version with more features when they release this.

To be honest a limited free Mobile Me that at least matches the features available from Google and Microsoft is long overdue.

That seems a sensible approach. Apple also need to look at an equivalent to Google docs (how about a real database too? Apple -Oracle collaboration?), i.e. totally web based versions of iWorks that anyone can use, (even PC users) that can seamlessly work with iWorks locally too if needed. I use the cloud based shared feature in iWorks now in beta but this is dependent on the local apps.

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

My wife has MobileMe and loves it. I use an IMAP account on Gmail cause I'm cheap. But if Apple went to a free MobileMe account for registered iTunes users using a genuine Apple device, I'd jump over to MM. The integration of a free MM with your iDevice would be incredible. Then Apple could always do a "Premium" tier with more online storage, etc..

My wife has MobileMe and loves it. I use an IMAP account on Gmail cause I'm cheap. But if Apple went to a free MobileMe account for registered iTunes users using a genuine Apple device, I'd jump over to MM. The integration of a free MM with your iDevice would be incredible. Then Apple could always do a "Premium" tier with more online storage, etc..

I was about to unsubscribe just now in protest (not that Apple would have seen it...). I am starting to hate all about mobileme after paying hundreds of $$ through several years without getting a good service back. I can get almost all of it trough free services. And since most of my friends think this is to expensive they stay away from mobileme. So we cant share anything. Even my wife dont want to spend $$ on this.

I will keep my subsciption for a while now if this rumor is true, else I say goodbye!

Just have to tell that I have already cleaned my hole MM. The only thing I use it for now is sync between my devices. If we have to pay for synching, well then there is something really wrong!

I AGREE!!! With the cloud centric approach that Microsoft has taken with Window Live, I know that apple can best them. But realistically, with the high cost of owning an iPhone, hardly anyone in their right mind is willing to shell out $20 monthly for Mobile Me. To offer the service free especially at this point, will be a genius stroke that will cause many smart phone users to abandon Android and WP7 for an iPhone with free APPLE cloud based services. I for one cannot wait!!!

I AGREE!!! With the cloud centric approach that Microsoft has taken with Window Live, I know that apple can best them. But realistically, with the high cost of owning an iPhone, hardly anyone in their right mind is willing to shell out $20 monthly for Mobile Me. To offer the service free especially at this point, will be a genius stroke that will cause many smart phone users to abandon Android and WP7 for an iPhone with free APPLE cloud based services. I for one cannot wait!!!

Where do you live that it's $20 a month? MobileMe is $99 a year, and you can find it for $60.

...then you feel like you are getting a value for your money, yes? I bought MM when I got my iPhone, even though I'd tried dot.mac years ago. The two services are completely different, in my opinion, so it made sense to change the name.

Once my Dad got an iPhone, too, then I made this year's purchase a family plan and we are able to sync calendars with our own Macs as well as swap calendars so we can see what the other has going on on any given day. I find all this to be useful, and so don't mind paying the cost of MM.

If they make parts of it free, that's even better. Maybe they will add some new ideas/services too, you never know. Anyway, if you already use it, you know why and what it benefits you. The report I read at Electronista this morning seemed to indicate that the email addresses would still be paid, which I thought was odd.

Apple has a great deal to learn from Google on how to implement email and related applications (e.g., Picasa) well. MobileMe - I've been a member since Day1 - is a mediocre offering from Apple.

For what it offers, and given how cheap storage is, it should be free.

I have also been a member since day 1 of iTools/.Mac/mobileMe
I have forwarded my .Mac address to a gmail address
I have paid for dropbox instead of using iDisk
I still use the contacts, calendaring & bookmark syncing as well as the find my iPhone.

I believe Apple will offer the contacts and calendaring syncing for free to all iOS customers as a way to entice them to upgrade to the full mobileMe.
This will also mean less support calls about customers losing their contacts.

Giving everyone a MobileMe account would be a big selling point and no great loss of revenue for Apple. Apple would more than recoup the lost revenue by the additional sales of Ipads and iphones.

And since most everyone buys MobileMe annual renewals from 3rd party sellers (i.e. Amazon) at $70 rather than Apple's $99, the wholesale price must be around $50-60. After paying for 2 accounts since mac.com started (now known as MobileMe) I'd surely be pleased to save $140 annually. And it's a great selling feature for iPhones, iPads and maybe even the iPod Touch.

Continuing the global rollout of its highly successful tablet device, Apple will launch the iPad in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, according to the Wall Street Journal.

My Greek friends are more than a little peeved that eight months after the iPad launch, they're still not able to get one unless they buy the wifi version in a neighboring country and charge it via their computers' USB ports or iPhone chargers. What's the holdup, Apple?

Given the range of iOs devices that Apple now sells, this is an underlying service whose costs could easily be built into the hardware pricing (e.g., as with razor blades and handles).

Yea! Just like Service and Support is now.

Notice that is doesn't stop the trollers, and many are here, from spewing on how Macs are so much more than PC, you can build a hackintosh much cheaper, why should we pay Job's Apple Tax, etc., etc.

And now you want them to say, "Why should I pay extra for something I don't need or ever use?"

I gather that you think that if you skied out of bounds and ended up freezing to deaththat the ski resort should pay for your funeral. Afterall, the cost should have been covered in the price of your lift ticket.

Moblie Me is the only apple service/product that I pay for begrudgingly (as opposed to be happy to pay for). It needs to become far more reliable, and needs an overhaul of features. Seeing as I 've already paid enough for it, if part of it goes free, as it should, I expect much more from apple for paid users because for example let's be frank 20-40gbs of storage (shared with email) is a joke these days.

What's more, microsoft's free cloud service (remind me the name?) is offering (to mac users as well) free cross device folder syncing - now that is a dream, that is something lovely. Being ms of course I don't know how well it's been implemented but I 've heard good things about it. Apple is way behind this, you really have no option but to save everything to idisk AND keep a local copy of idisk to get the same functionality (which defeats the purpose of idisk as an augmented storage on the cloud). This is to put it bluntly shit. With home and work imacs, airs, mbp's one can hardly consider this acceptable.

They should:
a. let you choose folders and have them sync across devices.
b. raise the storage for idisk that will be used a separate storage space for either back up or extra storage or file sharing with others.
c. implement a robust webdav protocol via the funder - it's really annoying to have to pay for something and having to end up using 3-d party solutions such as cyberduck to get decent functionality out of it and avoid the finders frequent idisk related errors.

MobileMe is like many software titles and services out there: 95% of people don't know all the included features or how to use them and so they complain about the price!

One Example: Google doesn't have solution to integrate into your iwork/MS office for distributed file exchange and reviewing.

Many of the features that MM does through its tight integration have similar availability with MS but you usually need to be on a corporate network to really use them in MS.

I think that free might be a stretch for Apple, but it would be amazing to have online storage and back-up with multiple platform (2 laptops, 2 ipads & iphones) synching and auto-updating, universal access to my mail, bookmarks, calendars, notes, contacts on any of my devices and any other device with a browser, fully integrated webhosting and photo sharing in my iphoto and imovie in addition to a dedicated homepage, as well as the pages,keynote, numbers integration, not to mention little things like using "Find my (wife's) iphone" to locate where to pick her up, and email aliases, and etc....

you get the point - MM would be a lot of stuff to be free, but not much for $99 a year

Interesting. Been a user since 2000 (iTools), and my .mac address is coveted. I pay every year, because although it's frustrates me with hiccups at times, I've seen it get better. The new calendar, now that it's based on CalDAV, is a million times more reliable than their old proprietary sync function. Recently, some emails I worked on at work didn't get where they were supposed to go. Something like that KILLS my confidence in the product. Gmail, I know, will get there. Come on Apple, work on reliability!

I gather that you think that if you skied out of bounds and ended up freezing to deaththat the ski resort should pay for your funeral. Afterall, the cost should have been covered in the price of your lift ticket.

The only thing out of bounds is your wild imagination.

Also, if you think that Apple bases its pricing decisions on what trolls in forums might or might not complain about, it's also a silly imagination.

Tim Cook is gay, believes in climate change, and cares deeply about racial equality. Deal with it (and please spare us if you can't).

There are any number of ways they can handle this. They can upgrade paid members at no cost (online storage and features). They can give people who've paid a credit at the apple store or at the iTunes store. They can have ad-free for paid and ads for free. That's just off the top of my head. Apple can think of more ways than that. I am a paid mobileme member (family acct) and it would not bother me much if they made the accounts free and I received no refund or credit but some sort of token would be nice and I think good PR.

For someone who owns several apple products, MobileMe is fantastic. I sync 2 macs, 2 iPhones, and an iPad and I also host a website on my own domain on a MobileMe family account. I use the rest of the space for cloud back up of critical jobs (I have other back ups as well for redundancy). I tried the google drop box route and it felt like a complete time wasting hack and I still had no find my phone/iPad. And give google all my private info? No thanks! So the MobileMe service is worth every penny to me. In fact, I dropped my web hosting plan and I am actually coming out ahead.

What I'd like to see going forward for MobileMe. Drop prices and add more online storage for paid members. Add goodies. For example, multiple domain names and outgoing email from your domains instead of me.com. Offer a very minimal free account but still no ads--just enough to get people to see that its's worth paying for. I think many people would pay a reduced price if they used the free account for a while. The 60 day trial is nice but psychologically, people don't make a commitment to something that is going away in 2 months.

So far Apple has not done much with the expertise and assets that came along with the purchase of LaLa. Apple could add a LaLalike service to make is MobileMe offering even sweeter.